Tylers culinary blog

Navigation

Tag Archives: Olive oil

Post navigation

Pizza is one of the most popular food items in the United States and other places in the world. So many kinds, so many variations. The debates they create like does pineapple belong on a Pizza, thick vs thin crust and how much sauce and cheese is too much? I’m here to give you some tips for making and ordering a better pizza.
First of all my number 1 pizza tip especially when your making it is this. Make every component equal. Make a decent crust, make a tomato sauce like the one i wrote a recipe for in a previous blog and don’t go overboard on the toppings. You want a pizza where every component comes together to make it a great pie, not just a little crust with toms of sauce and cheese and toppings.
The crust is very important. I like to go with a medium thickness. Too thin and it will lack that texture you want. You want a little crunch a little bite. Too thick and it’s too bready and the pizza will just be unbalanced. Also a medium crust is good for cook time.
The sauce is important. I have a recipe for a good tomato sauce in a previous blog post that can be easily modified for the purpose of a pizza. I never reccomend using a pasta tomato sauce. It never tastes right. You can also use a white sauce, pesto, or even just olive oil with some salt and pepper. Choose what sauce you’re going to select by what toppings and cheese is going on top of it. Be careful not to oversauce your pizza. This is very common and it will overpower the other components and make your crust soggy faster.
Most of the cheese used for pizzas are mozzarella or provolone. I suggest using a mix. Mozzarella and provolone melt easy and have a nice mild flavor, this is why I always add parmesan or Asiago to give it some salty sharpness. Smoked cheeses are also a nice touch. Baratta is a stuffed mozzarella that’s nice to finish a pizza with as a topping too.
This is where most of the debates begin. I personally really dislike pineapple on a pizza, but if that’s what you like go for it. As far as toppings go, keep it simple. Don’t just throw things on. Pick 3 or 4 things that go really well together and put those on proportionally. Try mixing some different textured ingredients. A little crunch, smooth and soft go well together. Maybe try something salty, something mildly spicy and something creamy. Maybe pancetta, pickled peppers and baratta. Balance is key when making a pizza.

Infused oils can add a wonderful flavor to wherever you’re cooking. You can cook with it or use it to finish a dish as a drizzle. I see infused olive oil sell for a spendy amount. It’s easy and cheap to do it at home let me tell you a few ways how.
You can heat your basic olive oil up gently and add your desired flavors. Garlic or herbs or vegetable. Gently simmer on a very low heat and set aside to cool. I always use a mid shelf olive oil.
When I make my infused oils I cold infuse them. I get my bottle and put my flavors in it and let it sit for a while. I think I get a crisper and cleaner flavor this way. It’s also less fuss. Overtime the oil will absorb more and more flavor. So be weary the flavor will change overtime. Aging it is a good thing.
I prefer to do this myself, because it’s cheaper and it looks really nice sitting on the shelf. I also like having complete control over what flavors I infuse with my oil.

Olive oil is a bigger industry than you might think. Olive oil is heavily regulated and actually isn’t as common a one would think. Olive oil is healthier than butter, has a distinct flavor, but a relatively low smoke point.

The olive oil most places use and sell is an olive oil blend. It can be written in very small print on the bottle and with the use of the word blend means it can contain very little actual olive oil. The council that regulates olive oil is the international olive council and has 16 member countries, America not being one.

In order for olive oil to be considered genuine it must be from a member country and have the country of origin clearly printed on the front of the bottle. Only 10% of the worlds olive oil meets the criteria to be considered genuine. The labels imported from Italy and extra virgin doesn’t mean much. 10% of the oil in the bottle could be imported from Italy mad it could be labeled imported from Italy.

It often times is misleading to the consumer. When you buy a bottle of olive oil you would assume the oil is all from olives. An olive oil blend or medley could be far more other oils than actual olive oil. This is generally why I don’t cook with olive oil when I can. The smoke point differs from brand to brand, because the ratio of oils is different.

Olive oil fraud is a constant battle in some European countries. Some cases include farmers and producers selling other oils and calling it olive oil. Making it a blend to taste like olive oil. Hundreds of people over the past 15 years have been arrested for olive oil fraud.